CINCINNATI -- As one weather system exited the greater Cincinnati area and another one approached Monday night, a new set of rules for the Home Run Derby were written, and then rewritten, and even in the final minutes before the competition began, the participants were trying to get everything straight.
Charlie Frazier, who was about to throw to his little brother Todd, glanced at a reporter's notepad to settle a question about how much bonus time there would be. Sandy Guerrero, Prince Fielder's pitcher of choice, thought that Fielder would go second rather than first as the No. 7 seed. When informed otherwise, Guerrero scrambled off in search of an event coordinator to get the proper rules interpretation for Prince.
The late changes only added to the charm of the revamped format, which felt like something ad-libbed in a lot of backyards for Wiffle ball games during the summer: OK, if you hit the ball onto the roof, that's a homer, but if you hit the side of the house, that's an out. Three swings and you're out, and …
Those changes, the Frazier brothers and the enthusiastic crowd helped to make this Home Run Derby a staggering success -- really, it was the best ever, in the way that you can confidently say that Game 6 of the 2011 World Series was unmatched -- and you could've ascertained that just by watching the National League sideline.
Typically, other players will watch a round of the Derby, then slip out to spend a few hours with their families.
